SF Giants
SCOTTSDALE — Buster Posey acknowledged the strange aspect of this spring training that has nothing to do with the pandemic the Giants and MLB are navigating. It’s possible it will be his last in Scottsdale. It’s possible it will mark his last campaign in orange and black, finishing a three-World Series run for a legend who could go elsewhere or could be seen in Cooperstown five years later.
Posey admitted the thought that this could be it with the only club he’s known has entered his mind.
The same is undoubtedly true for Brandon Crawford, but he wants any traces of those thoughts to disappear, for a while at least.
“I’m trying not to think about that a whole lot,” the longtime San Francisco shortstop said Friday, asked about the notion of this potentially being his final year with the Giants. “Just trying to get ready for the season and try to make it the best year in my career so far. Not really focusing on all that stuff.”
All that stuff is quite a lot.
Crawford’s $75 million pact expires after this season, which likely brings to a close what will be an 11-year major league career with the Giants that has included two World Series, two All-Star Games and three Gold Gloves for a kid from Foothill High School. The unknown number is the amount of autographs he’s signed for Bay Area kids around Oracle Park and Scottsdale Stadium because “I was that kid,” Crawford said, remembering even getting Willie Mays to sign something for him when he was a wide-eyed and young Giants fan.
If Posey and Madison Bumgarner stood apart to fans because of their overall excellence, eternal perfectionists who won with both brains and brawn, Crawford’s legacy falls closer to Tim Lincecum’s neighborhood. Sure, the talent is nearly superhuman, but both are and were icons who always shared something more identifiable; stars who seemed like they were just one of us to fans.
Crawford has not climbed this high easily. He was a fourth-round pick, not a first like Posey. Even with a World Series ring fit to his finger, there was wonder if his bat would produce enough. Hell, as recently as last season his playing time was reduced as the club sought better answers at shortstop against lefty pitchers.
As he always has, he played his way away from that frustration. He started hitting lefties better and reclaimed an everyday role that he did not relinquish.
Can he do it one more time? Can Brandon Crawford elevate his play to a level to which the Giants can’t help but bring back an aging shortstop rather than make an enormous splash in what will be a sea of dream shortstops? Can he, one more time, prove that this is where he belongs and force his way into an unlikely reunion?
He did not want to talk about the future. What he would talk about is a mindset that has brought him to the present.
“I think I’ve always tried to do that throughout my whole career — try to prove doubters wrong, prove people wrong. That’s definitely not going to stop this year,” the 34-year-old from Mountain View said over Zoom. “I’m going out with the same plan I’ve had pretty much every year in my career: To make it my best year so far. So that’s not going to change.”
What is going to change is the Giants’ financial situation after the season. Assuming options are not picked up, Posey’s and Johnny Cueto’s contracts will be off the books. As will Brandon Belt’s, Crawford’s and the entire rotation. Evan Longoria’s $19.5 million and Tommy La Stella’s $5.25 million represent the only two significant payouts for 2022, before which there will be a superstar grab bag on the free-agent market.
At shortstop, the class will be loaded with Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story and Francisco Lindor, if he hits the market. Marcus Semien and Javier Baez will be there, too. The Giants are run by folks who appreciate nostalgia but are not guided by it. If Crawford wants to return, which he does, he would need to play his way back.
After last season, it’s possible.
He retooled his swing with Donnie Ecker, Justin Viele and Justin Lind and went from one of the worst statistical regulars in the majors in 2019 to an above-average hitter in the shortened 2020. He did not have to overhaul his stroke this offseason, but rather could get plenty of reps with a stroke he knew that worked.
“We’re continuing to work on the same drills, talk about the same approaches and plans and stuff against certain pitchers because it worked last year,” said Crawford, whose .792 OPS ranked 12th among shortstops last season. “We’re just going to try to build off of that and maybe be even more specific with a plan going up to the plate than we were before.”
Through 15 games — one-quarter of the season! — Crawford was hitting .171 last season. There were no fans at Oracle Park, but even the cutouts were acknowledging it was probably nearly time to say goodbye.
And yet again, he took off and revived himself, now saying he’s “excited to see how the numbers play out this year with 162 games.”
That would suggest he plays a big chunk of those games. While Gabe Kapler said Crawford is the starting shortstop, the Giants will “put the best lineup that we possibly can on the field every night,” which is not a full-fledged endorsement of Crawford playing frequently against lefties, especially as the Giants endorse Mauricio Dubon’s play at the position.
Crawford will have to prove his value to the 2021 Giants before the 2022 Giants. Proving himself is how he has gotten here, and how he can stay here.